Prep Wrestling: Hononegah takes 4th at team state

Saturday

Mar 1, 2014 at 10:20 PMMar 1, 2014 at 10:20 PM

By Jay TaftRockford Register Star

The Hononegah Indians came up a couple of individual victories short of finishing as the best Hononegah squad in school history, placing fourth in the Class 3A team state wrestling tournament Saturday.

And since they had a couple of guys dinged up by the time the finals rolls around, it was hard for first-year coach Jason Glodowski not to ask the question "What if" over and over again when it was all done.

"What if Tyler (DeMoss) was in there, and what if Keegan (Powers) was at full strength?" Glodowski said shortly after Hononegah lost 36-22 to Aurora Marmion in the third-place match in Bloomington. "There are a lot of 'What ifs,' but here we are.

"And I don't know if we were just satisfied after beating Libertyville, or if we really were truly the fourth-best team."

On record, they were fourth best. After winning four of the last five matches and pulling out a 32-24 win over Libertyville in the state quarterfinals Saturday morning, Hononegah was assured of at least tying their best-ever finish in the team tourney.

But the Indians lost state runner-up Tyler DeMoss to a concussion after the quarters, and while he couldn't have helped much during Hononegah's 62-6 loss to Oak Park River Forest in the semis, it sure could have turned the tide during the Indians' back-and-forth loss in the third-place match.

And Keegan Powers, who was on a tear before injuring his knee in the week leading up to sectionals, wasn't at his peak in the only match he wrestled Saturday - a 7-4 defeat at 120 that was amid a flurry of four straight Marmion victories that locked up the outcome late.

Still, the Indians knew how far they had come this season, and they knew a conference and regional title, as well as a fourth-place trophy from team state, would have to do for now.

"For the most part, we were pretty happy when it was all over. This team has accomplished a lot," Glodowski said. "And, there'll be more. Hopefully it's just another beginning."